Del Potro: "Messi's the best player in the world"

In the second instalment of an interview with FIFA.com, the world number 7 tennis player Juan Martín del Potro said that Messi is the best player in the world: "He's got an edge over the rest. A lot of people say Cristiano is just a level below but I'm surprised by what Iniesta, Xavi and Rooney can do. They're real stars. I'm not saying Cristiano isn't better than them but they're right up there too."

As one of the Boca Juniors faithful, 'Delpo' admitted to having given Boca shirts to lots of his colleagues and that, like him, lots of tennis players are football fanatics: "I gave one to Federer, who's a fan. Nadal is an Estudiantes man. Juan Monaco got in there ahead of me. Then there's Tsonga, who's a real fan and went to see them in the USA. He was already a fan but I've been pushing him along. And there's Marin Cilic too. A Croat who's a Boca fan – that sounds a bit weird. There are a lot of tennis players who like their football," he said.

Regarding his chat with Federer about football, the Argentinean said: "He likes football a lot. He knows a lot about all the teams and we'd chat about Boca. We were on our own in the locker room once on semi-finals day at Roland Garros. There was no one else around and we started chatting. The subject of Boca came up and I had the shirt ready and said: 'This is for you, Roger'. Then, when he came to Buenos Aires, La Bombonera was amazing. He was really taken by it."